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HB 4524

Property: recording; marketable record title act; revise. Amends title & secs. 1, 1a, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 8 of 1945 PA 200 (MCL 565.101 et seq.) & adds sec. 5a.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Kelly Breen and 1 co-sponsor

The act clarifies how title chains are proven, extends the deadline to preserve interests to Sept 29, 2027, and expands protected interests, including infrastructure and covenants.

assigned PA 13'25 with immediate effect
#property:recording
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Bill Summary · HB 4524

HB 4524 — Marketable Record Title Act (Enacted as PA 13 of 2025)

Status / Timeline
- Introduced: March 12, 2025 (Rep. Douglas Wozniak, cosponsor Rep. Kelly Breen).
- Passed House & Senate; approved by Governor Sept. 29, 2025.
- Effective date: September 29, 2025 (immediate effect).
- New deadline to preserve interests by recording a notice of claim: not later than two years after the bill’s effective date (i.e., by Sept. 29, 2027).

Purpose
- To revise Michigan’s Marketable Record Title Act (1945 PA 200, MCL 565.101 et seq.) to clarify how a 20‑year (mineral) or 40‑year (other) unbroken chain of title is established, to change preservation procedures and timing for existing claims, and to expand/clarify exceptions where the Act cannot extinguish interests.

Key substantive changes
- Chain-of-title evidence
- Clarifies what recorded conveyances or title transactions will be treated as divesting an interest. For recordings after March 28, 2019, a record must specifically refer to the prior instrument by liber/page (or equivalent county-assigned identifier) to show divestment; earlier-recorded instruments without that reference may still be effective under the amended rules.
- A conveyance that purports to create a divestment can be treated as divesting regardless of recording date.

  • Preservation window and notices of claim

    • Extends the final deadline to preserve preexisting interests by recording a notice of claim from Sept. 29, 2025 to not later than two years after the bill’s effective date (i.e., Sept. 29, 2027).
    • Specifies required information on notices of claim (including owner names and mailing addresses as shown on the latest completed tax roll).
    • Provides a model form that may be used for recording a notice, while allowing substantially similar forms that meet statutory requirements.
    • Recording of a notice of claim is effective as notice for all persons whose rights originate from the same instrument.
    • Allows an agent acting on behalf of a claimant (if authorized in writing) or a property owners’ association to file a notice.

  • Ending / canceling claims

    • Prescribes standardized language a person may use to end or cancel a recorded claim.

  • Expanded exceptions (Act cannot bar/extinguish)

    • Adds specified infrastructure and interests to the list of exceptions, including installation/repair of pipes, valves, roads, wires, conduits, sewer, poles, towers, and newly: driveways, trailways, drains, substations, electric generation facilities, energy storage or other energy facilities, stormwater/drainage facilities.
    • Protects restrictive covenants or recorded instruments that limit use of property for protection of health or safety from environmental conditions (broader than requiring citation of a specific environmental statute).
    • New exceptions: rights of remaindermen on expiration of life estates/trusts; recorded declarations/instruments recorded on/after Jan. 1, 1950 that subject lots to restrictions or obligations; recorded master deeds (and amendments) for condominiums.
    • Affirms the Act cannot be used to create or preserve unlawful discriminatory covenants (race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin).
    • Confirms that interests recorded under the Drain Code (1956 PA 40) or its predecessor are covered by the exceptions.

  • Recording identifier rules

    • Records recorded before March 28, 2019 that lack liber/page identifiers may be relied upon; records recorded after March 28, 2019 that fail to include those identifiers remain ineffective to preserve a claim.

Who is affected
- Landowners and purchasers (clarifies when titles become “marketable”).
- Claimants holding older interests, easements, covenants, or other charges on land — who must comply with the revised notice form and deadline to preserve rights.
- Property owners’ associations (now expressly included in definitions and allowed to record notices).
- Utility and infrastructure owners/operators (additional easement protections).
- County registers of deeds and local governments (administrative recording duties) — fiscal impact is negligible to state, insignificant administrative costs to local units.

Other notes
- The Act retains remedies/penalties relating to slanderous notices of claim but primarily restructures recordation and preservation mechanics.
- Legislative analysis indicates the amendments respond to prior statutory changes and stakeholder concerns about inadvertent loss of ability to preserve property interests and public notice issues.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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